


cooperative transitions

by deoxyribonucleotide



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27066610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deoxyribonucleotide/pseuds/deoxyribonucleotide
Summary: For Seungmin, falling in love with Hyunjin is both a slow process and a fast drop.(Or: Seungmin confesses to Hyunjin in the middle of a reading assignment.)
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 11
Kudos: 107





	cooperative transitions

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a real passage in a real book that I read for (a real) class. As a result, this is very nerdy and self-indulgent. I cope with college by writing fic, which is probably why I'm having so much trouble with it in the first place ㅋㅋㅋ
> 
> Bonus content: Listen to [_Jump Rope Gazers_](https://open.spotify.com/track/2w2WcIt1pfpoDcFLf46lHN?si=7Gf0_ZiaRsS_DAGUd5uPlw) by The Beths while reading the fic—I think this song is pretty apt :)

The thing they don’t tell you about college is how much reading you have to fucking do. Seungmin thinks of himself as someone with a good amount of appreciation for the written word, but even he has to ask himself sometimes—isn’t this too much? Surely there’s no reason for all three of his major subjects to assign them at least two chapters per week, but here he is, reading past dinnertime in the little study nook of their room. His assigned reading is from different books, too, so that on most days, Seungmin has to jump from cell biology to biochemistry to genetics. At this point—and especially after a long day of exams—the concepts have all mixed together in his brain like the strangest form of alphabet soup. Primordial alphabet soup, maybe, as far as Miller and Urey are concerned.

“You’re reading again,” says a voice from behind Seungmin, and it takes all of him not to jump out of his seat.

“Sheesh, Hyunjin,” he wheezes, placing a hand over his racing heart, “a little warning could’ve helped.”

“Hey, it isn’t my fault you’re jumpy from all the coffee you drink,” Hyunjin points out, taking the half-finished cup of coffee from Seungmin’s desk.

Seungmin scowls at his book: Biochemistry, 4th edition. “Well, this thing isn’t gonna read itself.”

“You’ve been here for like, ten hours,” Hyunjin says softly. “Please eat something more substantial than coffee and digestives.”

“I will, Hyunjin, don’t worry,” he says. His focus narrows once more on the words and figures in front of him. He’s reading a chapter on nucleic acids, the molecules that serve as repositories of genetic information for all forms of life on earth, and he’s got seventeen more pages to go. A passage on cooperative transitions stands out to him, and he highlights a few choice sentences with his Mildliner.

That response isn’t enough for Hyunjin, apparently, because he whines, “Seungminnie, it’s almost midnight,” and gently tugs at the back of his t-shirt.

Seungmin turns, ready to tell Hyunjin that _no, dinner can wait,_ but what he sees makes all the words die in his throat.

It’s a known fact of life that Hyunjin is cute—has been forever, even in high school—but at this moment, he’s even more so: his brows are drawn in concern, there are little wrinkles on his forehead, and his mouth is pulled down at the corners. It shouldn’t be so devastating—it’s hardly the most appealing combination of facial cues or whatever—but for some reason, it is. It’s devastating enough to send Seungmin’s last few thoughts careening off a cliff.

Seungmin’s eyes wander downwards and—huh, Hyunjin’s wearing one of his hoodies. The grey one with the red heart, which is actually his favorite. The hoodie is a bit big on Seungmin, which means that on Hyunjin, it’s oversized, the sleeves falling past his hands. Why is he wearing one of Seungmin’s hoodies? More importantly, why is the sight of that making Seungmin feel so… so fluttery?

“Seungmin, are you okay?” Hyunjin asks, licking his lips nervously. This only serves to make the fluttery feeling worse. Behind him, the shitty fluorescent lighting of their shared dorm room glows a bright, blinding white. The way the light hits Hyunjin’s head of blonde hair makes it look like a halo. “Dude, you really need to—”

“I think I’m in love with you,” Seungmin blurts out. It is probably the worst combination of words that could have come out of his mouth, but at the sight of Hyunjin like this, they’re the only words that come to him.

And it’s not like this is the first time those words have crossed Seungmin’s mind, right? If he were to be honest, those words have been cropping up in his brain recently, breaking the surface every time he sees Hyunjin. Given that the two of them are roommates, this means those words have been cropping up a lot.

Hyunjin, to his credit, doesn’t look any more nonplussed than he already does. He puffs out his cheeks, then asks, “What’s this about?”

“I’m in love with you,” are Seungmin’s next words. He can’t help them, not when the feelings he’s been harboring for months want to make themselves known. It had been a bad idea to take three exams in a row _and_ come home to get a round of reading in—now he’s run through all the brain power he’s allocated for a day and the words keep slipping past him.

“Are you fucking with me?” There’s a hint of defiance in Hyunjin’s normally pleasant voice. “‘cause if you are, that’s not nice.”

“No, I’m not,” Seungmin registers himself saying. “Seriously.”

“O- _kay,_ ” Hyunjin says after a drawn-out moment of silence. His face, which had been so open a while ago, is unreadable now. Seungmin’s half-finished cup of coffee is still in his hand. “How about we eat and have a chat about this?”

  


* * *

  


Dinner at eleven thirty in the evening makes Seungmin feel like he’s in the Twilight Zone. There’s something uncanny about how the lights in their kitchen/dining room buzz and flicker, and that thought intermittently surfaces and sinks while he watches Hyunjin busy himself with the microwave. (“No, I do not trust you to microwave your own food,” Hyunjin had said a moment ago. “Look, with how _gone_ you are, you’d probably burn the apartment down somehow.”)

The lull gives Seungmin some time to think. How long has he felt like this about Hyunjin, anyway? He wants to say that it’s only been a few months, but the truth is these feelings have probably taken root a long time ago. He’s known Hyunjin since they were kids, and it was undeniable that he’s had a soft spot for him from the start. Maybe the feelings have always been there, growing much like a tree, and only now have they begun to bear fruit. It’s a testament to how bad Seungmin’s luck is that the figurative fruit in his case is an embarrassing and ill-timed confession.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the microwave dings. Hyunjin spares no time in clicking it open and taking out the little bowls of food that he reheated.

“Eat,” he says, setting them down in front of Seungmin. Then comes a pair of chopsticks. “You’re looking delirious.”

“What about you?” Seungmin asks. It was customary for them to eat together, but that routine of theirs has been interrupted by all the fucking reading Seungmin has had to do recently.

“Couldn’t wait, so I ate earlier,” Hyunjin says with a small smile. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Seungmin says, and with perfect timing, his stomach grumbles. Hyunjin gives him a pointed look, so he picks up his chopsticks and starts on his dinner.

It’s quiet again as Seungmin eats, the only sounds being the tinkle of metal against ceramic and the low hum of the lights above. Hyunjin watches him carefully, the worry on his face plain as day.

Seungmin gulps down both the food and the feeling of affection welling up in him.

Hyunjin breaks the silence first. “So what was that about? Brain fart moment?”

“Yes and no?” Seungmin says. He doesn’t intend for it to sound so unsure, but that’s how his voice comes out. “I mean what I said, Hyunjin.”

“Huh,” Hyunjin says, going quiet again. That’s a perfectly acceptable response to an out-of-the-blue confession from your roommate you’ve known since childhood, so Seungmin doesn’t begrudge him his silence. Instead, he turns his attention to eating.

His eyes land on the clump of rice between his chopsticks and the first thing that his brain tells him is that it contains starch, a polysaccharide of α-glucose. He slaps his face with two open palms.

“Are you okay?” Hyunjin asks, bewildered.

“I’m good,” answers Seungmin, resolutely not looking at the food he’s eating. He’s not giving his brain any more reason to think about things like that; frankly speaking, he’s had more than enough science for today.

Once Seungmin is done with dinner, he stands to get some water—a glass for him and another for Hyunjin in case he’s feeling thirsty.

When he sits back down at the table, Hyunjin asks, “Do you really love me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I love you too,” Hyunjin says, and the casual tone of it makes the words land a little too lightly for Seungmin’s tastes. “Want some ice cream? I think we still have some in the fridge.”

“No, you don’t get it,” Seungmin argues. “Thank you for the meal—I don’t think I have enough space for ice cream—but what I’m saying is I love you. Love-love you. Like—” And here his brain gets the best of him, just when he thought he had it under control—“It’s like, cooperative transitions, you know? I didn’t know it until it got too much and once it _did,_ everything just came tumbling out of me. I’ve felt this way for a while now and I was holding it back so much I didn’t even realize that I’d said it already. It’s like DNA holding on until the last possible moment before it starts to melt.”

“I don’t even understand what you’re saying anymore, Seungminnie,” Hyunjin says, not unkindly.

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin says, feeling rather dejected. Who on earth would use a _science metaphor_ in confessing? Even for someone such as him, this is hitting a new low.

“No, don’t be,” Hyunjin replies, shaking his head. “I love you, too, Seungmin, but I really think you should be getting some sleep. All this studying is playing hell with you.”

“But the dishes—”

“I’ll take care of them,” Hyunjin cuts in smoothly. He gently takes Seungmin’s hand in his and slots their fingers together. “Come on,” he says, standing up. “Let’s have you brush your teeth and after that, you can get some rest. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah,” Seungmin says, letting himself be led by the hand. “That sounds nice.”

He brushes his teeth on autopilot and sticks his toothbrush next to Hyunjin’s in their wall-mounted toothbrush holder. A few minutes after he crashes into bed, he’s already out like a light.

  


* * *

  


When Seungmin wakes up, he finds Hyunjin seated at the foot of his bed, reading his biochemistry book.

“What time is it,” Seungmin asks. He’s feeling rather lazy, and he doesn’t even want to turn to check the clock on his bedside nightstand.

“Oh, you’re up,” comments Hyunjin, shutting the book. “It’s eleven in the morning.”

“Is it my turn to cook lunch?” asks Seungmin. He hopes it isn’t, because the only thing he has enough energy to cook is instant ramen—and two eggs on top, if he’s feeling diligent.

“I ordered some fried chicken, don’t worry,” Hyunjin says. He crosses and uncrosses his legs, looking all sorts of apprehensive. “Listen, I was just thinking about what you said last night—”

“Fuck, what didn’t _I_ say last night—”

“And I got the cooperative transitions thing after reading your book, but I don’t get how it relates to you loving me?” Hyunjin sets the book down on the bed, scooting a little closer to Seungmin. “That’s what I really got, anyway—that you loved me. Or liked me? I don’t know, you were pretty out of it.”

Seungmin internally curses. _Damn you, last night’s Seungmin!_ He had been perfectly content shelving his steadily growing feelings for Hyunjin—perfectly content to spend the rest of his semester looking dreamily at him and having conversations over meals and grocery runs before moving out/running away—but of course something in him had to snap last night. Of fucking course. He’s not sure which was the last straw, but he wagers it was either the three consecutive exams or seeing Hyunjin in his favorite hoodie.

But there’s really nothing to it now, and Seungmin has pride enough to correct what Hyunjin just said. “Not ‘loved’, but ‘love’. Present tense.” _I love you and I can’t believe I fucking confessed in the middle of reading about nucleic acids._

Hyunjin sighs, shifting somewhat uneasily again. “You’re not joking, are you, Seungminnie?”

“No,” Seungmin says. Realizing how weird it is that he’s just lying in bed while they talk about _feelings,_ he sits up until he and Hyunjin are eye level with each other. “No, why would I be?”

“Seungmin, we call each other pet names all the time,” replies Hyunjin gently. “And tell each other ‘I love you’. Platonically. I think. And then sometimes we cuddle together when the heating gets really fucking bad. And neither of us have confessed or anything—I didn’t even _know_ you were into me—so I thought it was just. I don’t know, you going crazy because you’ve had too much—too much _science_ in a day.”

“You’re not wrong about that part,” Seungmin says. “Those exams can go to hell. But I think that if I didn’t say all that last night, then I still would have, some other time.”

Hyunjin frowns. “You would?”

“Yeah, because I really wasn’t kidding at all.”

A long moment of silence rings out. Seungmin counts to ten, his fingers and toes starting to go numb with dread. Oh no, he’s ruined everything. Hyunjin doesn’t feel the same way, and now he’ll have to crash at Felix’s while he looks for somewhere else to live.

Just as he’s about to ask Hyunjin when he wants him to move out of the apartment, Hyunjin suddenly goes, “I’m sorry, can you give me a moment? I’m having trouble processing that you’re not fucking with me because I’ve liked you since last year.”

Seungmin’s jaw drops. “No way.”

“Yes way,” Hyunjin says, ducking his head. “Do you think I just go around hugging and cuddling everyone? Or telling them ‘I love you’?”

“Yes,” answers Seungmin honestly. “You’re a loving person.”

Hyunjin buries his face in his hands. “Seungmin, you can’t just _say_ things like that! I told you to give me a moment.”

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Hyunjin says. When he comes up, his cheeks are still pink. Looking straight into Seungmin’s eyes, he asks again, “Do you really mean it?”

“Yes. I said it before, but I’ll say it again just so we’re on the same page: I love you,” Seungmin says. Straight to the point, with a clear and level tone. No more metaphors this time around, just the literal truth.

“Oh. Um.” Hyunjin looks away, looking instead at the blanket covering Seungmin’s lap. “Okay. I l-love you too.”

Seungmin smiles. “Hey. You’ve told me that a million times before, so why are you stuttering now?”

“Don’t be rude,” Hyunjin cries, hiding his mouth behind a hand. “I was holding back before, okay? This is the first time I’ve been able to say it how I want to—with the full weight of emotion behind it.”

“Ah.” Seungmin feels somewhat dizzy at Hyunjin’s confession. He wasn’t expecting things to fall into place this easily, but he can’t help but be happy that they are. “This is so weird. I’ve liked you for a long time, you know? And it’s still not sinking in—that you feel the same way about me.”

“Get used to it, baby,” Hyunjin says, coming closer to cage Seungmin in a tight hug. “From now on, I’m gonna tell you I love you every damn day.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” replies Seungmin, wrapping his arms around Hyunjin, too. His face must be the color of a firetruck with how warm it feels right now.

Despite his embarrassment, though, Seungmin thinks this isn’t too bad. He has Hyunjin in his arms—kind, generous, sweet Hyunjin—and when he tilts his head up to lock eyes with Seungmin, the smile on his face is ear-to-ear, wide enough to make his eyes crinkle at the corners.

 _Yeah,_ Seungmin thinks, his heart singing in his chest, _this is not bad at all._

  


* * *

  


Later, after they finish the fried chicken Hyunjin ordered, they end up cuddling on the couch, Hyunjin lying on top of Seungmin while Seungmin traces lazy circles on his back.

“I still can’t believe you used your _science things_ when you confessed to me,” says Hyunjin with a quiet little laugh.

Seungmin shakes his head. “I can’t believe it, either.”

After a moment, Hyunjin says, “Wait. Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense that you did.”

“Why?”

Hyunjin smiles brilliantly at Seungmin. “It’s fitting—we have a lot of good chemistry, don’t you think?”

**Author's Note:**

> _“What [the term cooperative transition] means in the case of DNA or RNA is that a double helix cannot melt bit by bit. [...] Rather, the whole structure holds until it is at the verge of instability and then denatures over a very narrow temperature range (Mathews, van Holde, Apling, & Anthony-Cahill, 2012).”_
> 
> Will I ever tire of writing nerdy Seungmin? Probably not.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
